1981 KZ440 won't start, timing problem?

My 1981 KZ440 will not start. It won't even fire. The bike was sitting for 8 years or so before I bought it. Here is what I know for sure:

it has compression.
it has blue spark on both plugs when I ground them to the head and crank the engine over.
The Carbs are clean, the tank is clean.

Bike turns over really easy when I have the plugs removed, When I put the plugs in, it will spin over easy some of the time, and then it will start struggling to turn over, and then go back to spinning easily again. it will not fire at all, even if I squirt fuel directly in the cylinders.

I'm thinking Ignition Timing? Any Advice would be appreciated.

fyi: I have a digital copy of the Kawasaki FSM for the bike.

My FSM says "Transistorized ignitions used on late models do not require adjustment".

How do you know the carbs are claen?
steve

I would start by checking you ignition timing statically, I'm sure there will be instructions in your manual on how to do it, and then see where that leaves you, in terms of it either being correct or not. I don't know if it's even adjustable on the later models. Sometimes the erratic turn over of the motor you describe can be the motor occasionally partially firing in completely the wrong place and temporarily stopping it cranking by trying to push the engine in the wrong direction. If I'm thinking correctly the 440 uses a single coil for the two plugs so there isn't anything to get swapped over like the plug leads or coil connections. Verify the timing first , then work from there.

one coil with 2 wires off of it. I never even thought to switch the leads. I guess it could be possible the previous owner has them backwards.......

I cleaned out the carbs with carb cleaner and compressed air. I blew out every jet until I could see light through the holes, and every passageway in the body of the carbs. then I re-assembled.

It won't even fire if I squirt fuel in the spark plug holes. won't burp or fart or nothing........

Benny77 wrote: one coil with 2 wires off of it. I never even thought to switch the leads. I guess it could be possible the previous owner has them backwards.......

If there's one coil it doesn't matter which way the leads are as it will be a "wasted spark" system where both plugs fire at the same time, but only one cylinder is in the position to actually fire.

Benny77 wrote: I cleaned out the carbs with carb cleaner and compressed air. I blew out every jet until I could see light through the holes, and every passageway in the body of the carbs. then I re-assembled.

It won't even fire if I squirt fuel in the spark plug holes. won't burp or fart or nothing........

Are you seeing fuel getting on the plugs from the carbs when you turn it over? Unless fuel isn't getting to the carbs usually you will get some sort of attempt at it running even with less than perfect carbs either due to dirt or being out of adjustment.

I'm not familiar with the 440, but I'm thinking it only has a single pickup. Some models have an igniter unit that actually controls the timing based on rpm etc. that gets the signal from the pickup, I don't know if you have one of those igniter boxes and that could be causing the problem. Check thr manual and see if it has a trouble shooting section that might home you in on whats awry.

Maybe a valve timing issue-jumped cam chain etc.

Mine is a 78 so it has points and a solo coil with two wires for the plugs. My timing plate would not go to the correct timing mark without me modding the slots in the timing plate.

I reset the point gap and timing with the new mod and it fired right up. I used an analog ohm meter to check the correct opening of the points with the timing mark on the "F" This took a little more time then I thought it would but in the end it started.

I also took the starter off and cleaned the contact area between the started body and motor. My Positive wire to my solenoid from the battery was also replaced with a larger gauge wire. All these things seemed to make the engine turn over better with the starter.

Hope this helps

So:

I did some diagnostic testing on the electrical system tonight. It appears I have a bad coil. Even though I have blue spark when I ground the plugs to the head and crank the engine, I was reading the FSM about how to check the coil, and it says I need infinite resistance between the lead (plug wire) and the frame (which I had), and 360-540 ohms between the leads (plug wires), which I did not have. I actually couldn't get a reading at all, I even removed the spark plug boots and stuck the tester directly in the wires and still got no reading. Anybody ever encounter anything like this before?

Benny77 wrote: ............................................. I even removed the spark plug boots and stuck the tester directly in the wires and still got no reading. Anybody ever encounter anything like this before?

That does indeed sound like a bad coil. Just to be absolutely sure and to rule out the plug leads you could unscrew the collars (red circles in pic} which hold the leads at the coil and stick the tester probes directly into the coil prongs.